Linda LeGarde Grover

Very low key, like sitting in the kitchen with your Auntie, listening to her. Most of these essays were originally written for a newspaper column about modern life of an Anishinabe woman. Scattered in with her daily experiences and memories of historical events are some teachings about Anishinabe values and language. For example, we learn that children were taught by careful observation, thinking things over, then trying themselves. Eventually they will be expected to teach others what they show more have learned. Primary Anishinabe values include modesty, respect, thankfulness, generosity, and contributing to the well-being of others. Grover shows how these play out in her family's daily life.
Pronunciation note: double vowels just indicate that you take longer to say them, it doesn't change the sound of the vowel. show less

Another of her books was described as a "collection of linked stories",and that fits this book also. Beginning with a description of Duluth's environment and history, Grover tells us of the Anishinaabe presence, and of the French and Italian who come later. Other sections focus more on her own family's history and on Anishinaabe wisdom stories as they relate to current lives. There is some repetition of details in subsequent chapters-- tho whether this is simply a means of setting the locale show more or a storyteller's reinforcement of important points, I'm not sure.
While reading the first section, I wasn't sure there was enough to impel me to buy the book, but by the end I knew there were enough jewels tucked in to be of value. For example, she tells the story of the birth of Nanaboozoo as a rabbit, beginning with how his grandmother came to earth. What I had not previously heard was that he had a twin brother, a wolf, who was tossed out during the difficult birth. Later the wolf & Nanaboozoo meet, but the wolf chooses not to stay with the family "it was understood by all that the trauma he had experienced...could not be undone. It had become a part of [them]...and of the earth...it has become apart of us all...[since then, wolves] have lived with the self-reliance and contemplation that comes with solitude. This is not a bad thng or a good thing; it is simply the way of the world." (p.96) As happens other times in this book, this chapter giving a traditional tale is followed by one with that same lesson being played out in a family member's life.
One of her last chapters, Homeland, presents her feelings when [white] people comment on Native people's spiritual connection to the land, or make 'land acknowledgement' statements in her presence. But she has also commented on a cultural belief that not all things are knowable. "Within this mystery are perhaps keys to understanding the reasons for the redemption and renewal of the Earth, our purpose."(p.140) show less

Linda LeGarde Grover created a lovely portrait of life in Minnesota, and the longing that comes with a separated family in In The Night Of Memory. It is a very clear example of the broadness of the institution of family, that it is defined by whatever might be valuable socially. We find family everywhere.
The characters and settings are so well drawn, and one finds themselves empathizing with them almost immediately. What she has created here is a true work of art, intent on tugging the show more heartstrings in a unique and interesting perspective.
Her prose style is lovely, and I continued to turn pages in delight.
I would recommend this book to most people I know who enjoy a pointed read. I was very satisfied. show less

Linda LeGarde Grover's work is interesting. Her poems read like stories, and her stories read like poems. This pattern continues with her newest work, a collection of poetry titled The Sky Watched: Poems of Ojibwe Lives. I liked the variety in the poems. Topics included boarding school life, Ojibwe legends, language, exoticizing of indigenous culture, and the hypocrisy of the 1970's hippie movement.

The poems also provide a look at life from various bad guys - one poem from the POV of a show more wendigo, another from the POV of a boarding school teacher. It seemed like those poems were written to invoke sympathy and not just scorn. I respect that. Every villain has a story, and it doesn't excuse their actions, but it does make it hard to hate them.

Some of the poems I didn't understand right away. One of the poems involved some boarding school girls being taken to lie outside in a ditch, and I didn't get it. Later in the book, a poem mentioned the Wounded Knee Massacre, and how a nun had the students lie in a ditch for their safety. So then it made sense.

The poems often repeat Ojibwe-language stanzas in English, so I can imagine The Sky Watched would be a good language-learning resource. A good book - I give it five stars. show less